An "Ace Art" photo from Chantel Mierau's video
On the “Art Walk/Art Talk” evening I wrote about earlier, we
went to a very unique art gallery called “Aceart”, literally ”Ace Art Inc”. The
artwork advertised was by artist Chantel Mierau, showing videos of what Wilma
and I immediately recognized had to do with our own origins, the Mennonites.
Wow.
When we got over the shock, we began looking a little more
seriously at the “video shows” running simultaneously. One had a group of
women rolling out dough on a wooden floor, making bread. Another, a group of
women working together to make a spider web. (Photo above)
But the most impacting for me and many of us in the group
was a video of a person, completely wrapped in a sack, I mean, head, arms,
feet, the whole person, encased in a gunny sack, trying to do a task, and
failing miserably, yet continuing to try. The scene taking place alongside an
old broken down building in the tall weeds. In the distance, traffic running
back and forth on a highway. It was so sad to see the figure, stumbling,
tripping, getting up, working at the task, moving towards and back, away from
the scene of the highway traffic in the distance (freedom) and then back again to the
task at hand. The weeds flattened into a trail by her painful multiple trips of hope and disappointment, back and forth, towards the highway and back again. I was
saddened and felt sorry for this person in such a “trapped” and “hopeless”
situation. How is it that a culture can do this to a person? Unfortunately,
thinking of my own past, I could identify a little too much! I wistfully and as
a distraction, commented to a group member beside me, of the hope that this
individual had in the end gotten counseling! It looked to me like a recipe for depression and possibly suicide!
Chantel, and I’m quoting from her bio, “is an artist whose
interest in repetition and cycles (especially domestic work cycles) has led her
into complimentary practices in textiles and video. She grew up in a primarily
Mennonite community in rural Saskatchewan, Canada then studied at two Mennonite
education institutions. She later studied at the University of Manitoba,
graduating with a BFA in 2011.”
Subsequent to this visit I've done some investigation into Ace
Art and I like what I see a lot.
Key aspects of their stated purpose that interest me
are: “…a commitment to emerging artists and recognizes it’s role in placing
contemporary artists in a larger cultural context. …dedicated to cultural
diversity in it’s programming…encourages applications from all contemporary
artists and curators…”
In their objectives they include a comment about their space,
“…for the public where exploration of the ideas and materials of contemporary
art are facilitated through exhibition, events, critical writing and dialogue.”
There are “events”, “workshops”, and “opportunities”. There’s
“critical distance essays”, “artist talks” and “books”. There’s a “project room”
where artists can work. Even “wiki", a project on the web to encourage communication
between artists and related subjects relating to art.
It is almost too good to be true. Here it seems, if you have an idea, do
any kind of art, or have a passion, even a dream, there is an opportunity at Ace Art to get into it, explore it and express it. What more can an artist ask?
Let’s see, there is the “contact us” heading…”click”…
"Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things..."
Psalm 98:1
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